This invention relates to a motorcycle steering system and more particularly to an improved system for steering of motorcycles.
In connection with the design, development and manufacturing of motorcycles, a motorcycle manufacturer spends a great amount of time and expense in tuning the steering system of the motorcycle to avoid a condition known as "shimmy." Shimmy is a condition wherein the steered wheel tends to oscillate about its steering axis due to a wide variety of factors, many of which are not fully understood and can be avoided only through substantial empirical testing. Although the motorcycle manufacturer will spend considerable effort in insuring that the motorcylce steering system is tuned so as to avoid shimmy under a wide variety of conditions, once the motorcycle reaches the hands of an ultimate rider, as riders known, various factors can arise which will cause the most highly tuned and best designed motorcycle steering system to exhibit shimmy.
As noted above, the factors which contribute to this effect are not fully understood and various things done by a rider may induce shimmy in the motorcycle steered wheel in spite of the best efforts of the manufacturer to avoid this situation. It is suspected that shimmy can be induced by a variety of factors in the hands of the consumer such as individual riding patterns, user modification of the motorcycle and alteration of its existing components and other factors which are beyond the manufacturer's control and which riders have come to expect. As a result, the best tuned motorcycle system which does not exhibit any shimmy at the factory, may give rise to shimmy due to factors that are beyond the manufacturer's control.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved motorcycle steering system.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a motorcycle steering system in which the effects of shimmy may be reduced even in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a motorcycle steering system wherein the steering system is provided with an arrangement for reducing the likelihood of shimmy occurring in the steering mechanism in response to a wide variety of unforeseen circumstances.